St Augustine is one of nation’s best spots for historic preservation.

St. Augustine is a great place to be a historic structure, according to one website.

National website Livability.com named St. Augustine as one of the country’s top spots for historic preservation.

City Commissioner Nancy Sikes-Kline, who is also a member of the Citizens for the Preservation of St. Augustine, said in the news release that St. Augustine’s historic buildings are one of its core values. “It’s why a lot of people move here,” she said. “It’s what we’re most identified with – our Spanish Colonial architecture.”

Livability.com chose cities that “have challenged the notion that new is better,” according to the release.

Editors talked with “historic preservation experts” to determine who would make the cut. Criteria included how many properties the town had listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and how easy or attractive it is to restore and maintain historic structures within the city.

The release mentioned St. Augustine’s Bridge of Lions and the St. Augustine Lighthouse as two key structures.

Barbara Pahl, vice president for western field offices at the National Trust for Historic Preservation, said cities that take care of their historic structures attract growth.

“They are more sustainable and hold a high aesthetic and environmental value,” she said. “We’ve learned that communities like these have an economic factor. These are places people want to be in. People want to visit them. People want to move back into these areas.”